I have a daughter who is 7 years old
and she prays Alhamdulillah. Do I
have to wake her up for the Fajr
(early morning) prayer, knowing
that this made her dislike praying?

Answer

Praise be to Allaah.
The father is like the shepherd of
his household and is responsible for
his flock, as the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said. Based on that, he should
educate his children and teach them
to fulfil obligations and avoid haram
(unlawful) things. That includes
telling them to pray when they
reach the age of seven years,
because of the report narrated by
Abu Dawood (495) from ‘Amr ibn
Shu’ayb, from his father, from his
grandfather, who said: The
Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: “Tell your children to pray
when they are seven years old and
smack them (lightly) if they do not
pray when they are ten, and
separate them in their beds.”
Classed as saheeh (authentic) by al-
Albaani in Saheeh Abi Dawood.
But the father should be kind in
teaching his small children how to
pray, and he should encourage them
by praising them, and giving them
gifts and rewards so that they will
get used to it and love it.
You can delay waking your daughter
up until near sunrise, and
encourage her to sleep early so that
it will be easier for her to get up.
There is nothing wrong with you not
waking her up on days when you
think it will be too hard for her to
wake up, because – for example –
she went to sleep late or because it
is very cold, and so on.
Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah
have mercy on him) was asked: I
have a son who is about nine years
old; should I wake him up for Fajr
prayer?
He replied: Yes, if a man has
children, male or female, who have
reached the age of ten, he should
wake them up. With regard to
children who are younger than that,
if he wakes them up so that they
may pray on time, that is better,
but there is no sin on him if he
does not do that. But it is better to
wake them up, because the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) said: “Tell your children
to pray when they are seven years
old and smack them (lightly) if they
do not pray when they are ten, and
separate them in their beds.” End
quote from Fataawa Noor ‘ala’l-
Darb.
He was also asked: My son is eight
years old; should I wake him up to
pray Fajr? If he does not pray, am I
sinning?
He replied: It seems that it depends.
If it is winter, for example, and it is
very cold, then there is nothing
wrong with leaving him and telling
him to pray when he wakes up. But
if the weather is normal and there
is no harm done by waking him up,
then you should wake him up so
that he will get used to praying with
the people. Nowadays, praise be to
Allaah, there are young boys
between the ages of seven and ten
whom we see coming with their
fathers to pray Fajr. If a child gets
used to that from an early age
there is a great deal of goodness in
that. But if it causes hardship, then
you do not have to wake them up.
But when they wake up you should
tell them to pray. End quote from
al-Liqa’ al-Shahri (40/18).
And Allaah knows best.